Ultimate Green Bean Casserole

My brother Tom made this recipe for Thanksgiving and it is soooo good I had to get the recipe from him.  I'm going to make it today for the neighbors so I wanted to convert it from the photo of the recipe he sent me into text so I could share it.  It's similar to the classic, but with fresh green beans, fresh mushrooms, and no canned cream-of soup!

Serves 10 to 12 - I'd say less, but we'll see.

Recipe can be halved and baked in a 2-qt (or 8" square) baking dish.  If so, reduce the cooking time of the sauce to about 6 minutes (reducing it to 1 3/4c.) and the baking time in step 4 to 10 minutes.

TOPPING
4 slices hearty white sandwich bread, torn into quarters
2 Tbl. unsalted butter, softened
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
3 c. canned fried onions (about 6 oz.)

BEANS AND SAUCE
2 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed and halved crosswise (the store was out, so I'm going to try with really good frozen)
salt and pepper
3 Tbl. unsalted butter
1 lb. white mushrooms, trimmed and broken into 1/2 inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbl. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth (I'll use Better than Bouillon!)
1 1/2 c. heavy cream

DIRECTIONS
1.  For the topping: pulse bread, butter, salt and pepper in food processor until mixture resembles course crumbs - about 10 pulses.  Transfer to large bowl and toss with canned fried onions; set aside.

2.  For the beans and sauce: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425F. Fill large bowl with ice water.  Line baking sheet with paper towels.  Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in Dutch oven.  Add beans and 2 Tbl. salt.  Cook beans until bright green and crisp-tender, about 6 minutes.  Drain beans in colander, then plunge immediately into ice water to stop cooking.  Spread beans on prepared baking sheet to drain.

3.  Melt butter in now-empty Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add mushrooms, garlic, 3/4 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. pepper and cook until mushrooms release moisture and liquid evaporates, about 6 minutes.  Add flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Stir in broth and bring to simmer, stirring constantly.  Add cream, reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce is thickened and reduced to 3 1/2 c., about 12 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4.  Add green beans to sauce and stir until evenly coated.  Arrange in even layer in 3-qt (or 13x9") baking dish.  Sprinkle with topping and bake until top is golden brown and sauce is bubbling around edges, about 15 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Thymely Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes

Again, these were requested over at Musing & Mutterings, but if I don't keep any & all recipes here, they're totally going to be non-findable for me later.

Thymely Roasted Sweet Potato Cubes

Peel two giant-sized, 3 regular, or 4 smallish sweet potatoes. Cut into 1/4" to 1/2" dice.  This should  be about enough to cover a 9x13"pan at pretty much a single layer.  Pour on some olive oil and sprinkle on some (fresh, preferably, but dried is fine) thyme & some (preferably coarse-grained/kosher) salt.  Bake at 350F (very adaptable to more/less heat), stirring occasionally but not too often, until sweet potatoes are soft & have acquired at least one roasted/caramelized/not-quite-burnt-but-really-brown side.

Vanilla-Brown Sugar Squash

This was requested over at Musings & Mutterings, but if I don't also post it here, I'll completely lose track of it.  Fancy name notwithstanding, I totally made up this recipe, so adapt at will!

Vanilla-Brown Sugar Squash

Cook a butternut squash.  For me, that means halve a butternut squash and scoop out the seeds. Put both halves cut-side down in a 9x13" pan with about 1/2 inch of water and cook for an hour, or until soft.  Scoop the flesh out of the skin and discard the skin.  (You can totally do this ahead of time or, as in the case of this Turkey Day feast, use leftover squash.)  Mash/mix the squash with butter.  LOTS of butter, and a fair amount of brown sugar and a decent splash of vanilla.  Mash until you deem the texture suitable, adding more butter as needed. (Julia Child note: more butter is good!). I made ours early with leftover squash & kept it warm in a minicrockpot, which worked very well.

Roasted Radishes

Yes, seriously. Roasted radishes. I know, it sounds bizarre, but they're really actually tasty. We've gotten radishes the last several weeks in our CSA box, and they've kind of built up 'cuz who has  big ol' BUNCH of radishes for a snack?! They'd mentioned roasting radishes in their newsletter so I figured, hey, why not? Good way to use up these not-so-crisp-anymore radishes filling up my fridge.

I didn't want to search through the newsletters so I just did a quick online search, which gave me what I was basically planning anyway.  This is really so very simple that it's only a mental recipe, but roasted radishes are unusual enough I wanted to share the idea.

• A lot of radishes (Recipe says 1 lb.; I used 3 or 4 bunches, some rather not-so-crisp) Wash 'em, cut off their tips and tails, and quarter.
• Toss with olive oil and large grain (kosher-type) salt. I did this right in the pan I was going to use anyway 'cuz hey, less dishes.
• Roast in oven until done.  Done may mean more or less caramelized for you, but give them time to mellow and roast - maybe 30 minutes? I had them in at 325F 'cuz that's what I wanted for my roast, but you've got a lot of leeway here as long as you're keeping an eye on them periodically so they don't burn.

That's it. I know - not really a recipe, but I never would've thought to try roasting radishes without our CSA's suggestion in the newsletter.  Mr. Kluges and I found them tasty, but the girls weren't so keen. Also, beware the radish burps later. :)

Easy Chocolate Truffle Cake

You will love me for this recipe.  Or hate me, I guess, if your New Year's resolutions including losing weight.  This cake is the richest, most compact chocolate delivery system I think I've ever had.  Cut yourself a small piece... and a strong coffee with it is divine.  This recipe is originally from some chocolate cookbook I checked out of the Blarney library... and then had Mr. Kluges photocopy the recipe. The cake should be made at least one day before glazing.


Easy Chocolate Truffle Cake

250g/9 oz. plain chocolate, chopped [Use GOOD quality chocolate from a real chocolate shop, not just some semi-sweet chips.  Seriously.]
225g/8 oz. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
75g/ 3 oz. sugar
120ml/4 fl oz. whipping (heavy) cream
15ml/1 Tbl vanilla essence (vanilla)
6 eggs
[a bunch of boiling water for step 4]

Chocolate glaze:
175g/6oz plain chocolate, chopped [see previous note]
50g/2 oz. butter, cut into pieces
whipped cream for decoration
rose petals for decoration [optional]

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.  Generously grease a 9" by 2" deep round or scalloped spring-form pan (23cmx5cm deep).  Line bottom with waxed paper and grease waxed paper.  Wrap bottom of pan in foil.
2.  In a saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate, butter and sugar with cream, stirring frequently until smooth; cool slightly.  Stir in vanilla.
3. With electric mixer, beat eggs lightly, about 1 minute.  Slowly beat chocolate into eggs until blended.  Pour into spring-form pan and tap gently on work surface to break any large air bubbles.
4. Place spring-form pan into larger roasting pan and pour boiling water into roasting pan, about 2 cm/ 3/4" up the sides of the spring-form pan.  Bake 25-30 minutes, until the edge of the cake is set, but the center is still soft.  Remove spring-form pan from water-bath, and remove foil.  Cool on wire rack competely; cake will sink in center and may be cracked.
5. Remove side of spring-form pan, and turn cake onto wire-rack placed over baking sheet to catch any drips.  Remove pan bottom and waxed paper.
6. Cake should be made at least one day before glazing.  Prepare glaze.  In a saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth.  Pour over cake, tilting rack slightly to spread glaze.  If necessary use palette knife [or spatula] to smooth side.  Leave to set.
7. With palette knife, carefully slide cake onto serving dish.  If you like, pipe whipped cream border around edge. [Or sprinkle designs with powdered sugar or whatever.] 
8. Note - we've never attempted the sugared rose petals, but here are the directions if you're feeling especially fancy & brave!  Dip the rose petals in lightly-beaten egg white, then in caster [super-fine].  Allow to stand on greaseproof [waxed should work or parchment] paper in a cool place for about 2 hours.  Place iin center of cake.  Serve with softly whipped cream on the side.

Cranberry-Glazed Pork Roast

Just had this easy, delicious pork dish for supper the other night. Since my girls are not big fans of sauces/stuff-on-their-food, I just served the cranberry sauce on the side. I've found this to be a nice company meal, because you can prep it all, throw it in the oven, and then pretty much just let it be while it cooks. If things run long, no biggie, just turn down the oven & let it keep warm.

(It's another recipe from my mom's recipe box, btw.)

Cranberry-Glazed Pork Roast

2 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. grated orange peel (if you've got oranges on hand, no biggie if you don't)
2 Tbl. orange juice
2 Tbl. dry sherry or more orange juice (or white wine)
1 can (16 oz.) whole cranberry sauce
3 lb. boneless pork loin roast
(Opt. - potatoes)

1. In small saucepan, stir together all ingredients except pork. Cook glaze, stirring constantly, over medium heat until thickened. Set aside.
2. Place roast in a shallow baking dish. (I often surround it with cut-up red potatoes & let them roast at the same time. Yum.) Roast at 325F for 30 minutes. Spoon 1/2 c. glaze over roast & continue roasting for 30-45 minutes more or until internal temperature is 155-160F. (Roughly - you can do it at 350F if you need to, just make sure it's done through, but don't cook it 'til it's dry!)
3. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with remaining sauce.

Shepherd's Pie (and some basic mash)

I first made shepherd's pie, perhaps not surprisingly, when we were living in Ireland. We liked to watch a show called "The Restaurant," where each week a guest chef would have the chance to design & prepare a menu for a restaurant full of people and several critics. These guest chefs were tv personalities, sports stars, politicians, journalists, radio announcers, etc. Good fun, both for the food as well as for the insights into Irish food and culture.

One time the guest chef made Shepherd's Pie, and I said, "I could make that! I should make that. Let's have that next week!" And so we did.

Now, whenever I want to make shepherd's pie, I always pull out my print-out of her recipe... and never, ever, ever follow it. :) I don't even have any notes written on it. But it does remind me of how generally to make it, that I need to remember the thyme & rosemary, and how it should taste at the end. Which is yummy.

Shepherd's Pie

1. Make mashed potatoes from scratch. For me, that means wash & cut-up some red potatoes & boil until soft. No need to peel them first, just cut out any iffy bits. Drain & mash with butter. Lots of butter. And some salt. If you've got sour cream or plain yogurt or cream cheese, go ahead and add some of that - it'll just make it yummier. Set aside. You're better off making too much mash than not enough, 'cuz it makes fine leftovers, but not enough to cover the pie looks scanty. If you're really fancy, you could peel your potatoes and whip them and later use a pastry bag to pipe them all pretty on top & then sprinkle with parsley to garnish, you overachiever, you.
2. Peel & dice or slice some nice carrots. I like carrots, so I do 3 or 4 of them. Saute in olive oil or a mix of butter and olive oil until they're just starting to get a few brownish bits. Set aside.
3. Peel and dice some onion fairly finely. Red is milder and what I prefer, but whatever you have on hand is fine. Saute to your preferred level of softness/translucence & set aside.
4. Cook up some ground lamb (aka lamb mince) and/or ground beef, about a pound & a half total (A pound is 454 g. Ah, the memories. *grin*) until it's browned, but not crispy. This last time I did half of each.
5. Add a good splash of red wine, maybe a dash of Worchestershire, and some beef broth. (Have I mentioned my love of Better than Bouillon lately? 'Cuz it tastes so much better than the granules and is just as convenient!) The amount will depend on the leanness of your ground meat, but you want it to have enough gravy that it doesn't get dry when/if the potatoes soak up some of the sauce. Too soupy is not great though, so find a happy medium.
6. Sprinkle in some salt & pepper to taste and about a teaspoon each of thyme & rosemary (a bit more if you're using fresh). Let it simmer for a while - 15 minutes? - enough to let the flavors meld.
7. Stir back in the onions & carrots. I add some thawed frozen peas in at this point, too. Taste & adjust the seasoning, gravy amount, etc. if it's not awesome.
8. Put it in a pretty casserole and level it out. Carefully spread the mashed potatoes over the top evenly, then pop it in the oven & broil it until the top has some nice color to it. If your broiler is on the fritz, don't worry your pretty little head about that step - it'll still taste just as good, as long as you make sure it's heated though. You could do this up into biggish ramekins if you'd like individual servings, or if you want to make a bunch & freeze them. Not that I've done that, but you could. ;)
   

Enjoy, especially with a nice stout (Murphy's or Beamish if you can find them) or a glass of red wine!

Tandoori Chicken

Here's the first of the two recipes I promised from GAW. (This one is easier, because it's from Emeril on foodnetwork.com. I'll try to get to the palak paneer in the next day or two.)


Four bone-in chicken legs with thighs, or eight thighs, skin removed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped white onion
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons chopped ginger
1 teaspoon finely chopped serrano or jalapeno pepper, seeded
1 tablespoon paprika
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

With a fork, prick holes in the chicken pieces. Using a knife, cut diagonal slices 1-inch apart, and 1/2-inch deep into the larger pieces. Place the chicken in a baking dish.

In a food processor, combine the oil, onion, garlic, ginger and pepper, and process on high speed to a paste. Add the spices and process until well blended. Add the yogurt and lemon juice, and process to a smooth sauce, scraping down the sides to combine all the ingredients. Pour the marinade over the chicken. Turn to coat evenly, rubbing the marinade into the holes and slits. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and up to 24 hours, turning occasionally.

Grill or bake in a preheated 425 degrees F oven on a baking sheet for 35 minutes.

Garlic Fries

Back in April, this recipe inspired my Wednesday Fun question about your favorite French fries. Well, I'm finally getting around to posting it. My kids don't like garlic, so I made it without step 4 & it was still delicious. I think the Yukon Gold potatoes are totally the way to go & make these especially wonderful. From Cooking Light magazine, April 2002.

Garlic Fries

3 pounds peeled baking potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch thick strips [I made these with Yukon Gold potatoes and they were way better than any other kind I've tried.]
4 tsp. vegetable oil
3/4 tsp. salt
Cooking spray
2 Tbl. butter
8 garlic cloves, minced (about 5 tsp.)
2 Tbl. finely chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbl. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Combine first 1 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag, tossing to coat.
3. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400F for 50 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown, turning after 20 minutes. [Don't turn too soon, or the crispy part will stick to the cookie sheet instead of the potato. If they don't want to turn after 20 minutes, leave them 5 more & try again.]
4. Place butter and garlic in a large nonstick skillet; cook over low heat 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add potatoes, parsley, and cheese to pan; toss to coat. Serve immediately.
   

Oven-Fried Chicken

Ok, back in April, I mentioned I'd post two recipes. Well, here's finally one of them! It's from Cooking Light magazine, April 2002, and I think it's delicious. The recipe says you can use ground chipotle pepper in place of the ground red pepper for a smoky taste.

Oven-Fried Chicken

3/4 c. low-fat buttermilk [approximately]
2 chicken breast halves, skinned
2 chicken drumsticks, skinned
2 chicken thighs, skinned [Ok, basically, just use a cut-up chicken.]
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground red pepper
1/4 tsp. white pepper [I don't keep this on hand, so it's just regular black pepper here.]
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
Cooking spray

1. Combine first 4 ingredients [chicken & buttermilk] in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 1 hour, turning occasionally.
2. Preheat oven to 450F.
3. Combine salt, peppers, and cumin in a second large zip-top plastic bag. Remove chicken from first bag, discarding marinade. Add chicken, one piece at a time, to flour mixture, shaking bag to coat chicken. Remove chicken from bag, shaking off excess flour.
4. Place chicken on a baking sheet lined with cooking spray. Bake at 450F for 35 minutes or until done, turning after 20 minutes. [Don't try to turn them too soon or the yummy coating will stick to the pan instead of the chicken.]
   

Corned Beef and Carrots with Marmalade-Whiskey Glaze

Thanks to my wonderful Wednesday Dinner friends, I had corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day last night! The Sexy Blonde made this corned beef dish from Epicurious.com. Wow. The glaze is amazing, and it all seemed to come together very quickly.

Corned Beef and Carrots with Marmalade-Whiskey Glaze

Ingredients:

1 cup sweet orange marmalade
1/2 cup Irish whiskey
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard plus more for serving

1 2- to 2 1/4-pound piece lean fully cooked corned beef
12 carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise
Fresh parsley sprigs


Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat large rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Boil marmalade, whiskey and nutmeg in saucepan until reduced to generous 3/4 cup, stirring often, about 7 minutes. Mix in 1 tablespoon mustard.

Generously brush corned beef all over with glaze; place in center of prepared sheet. Toss carrots and 1/4 cup glaze in large bowl to coat; place around beef. Sprinkle carrots with salt and pepper. Roast until carrots are tender and beef is golden, brushing occasionally with more glaze, about 35 minutes. Transfer to platter, garnish with parsley, and serve with Dijon mustard.

Egg Baked in Cream

Addendum 9/28/10: I had this on our weekly menu, but the day I was to make it, I realized, "I have no leeks!" Instead, I caramelized some onion (always caramelize more than you think you're going to need 'cuz it cooks down so much) and steamed/sauteed some Swiss chard from our CSA & threw that in too. Results = delicious!!!


I know I just posted a recipe that came from The Wednesday Chef, but I actually made two of hers that week & the other was so good, too, that I wanted to share it. Of course, you should really pop over to her site to read her mouth-watering description of Camino's Egg Baked in Cream and see some yummy-looking pictures. We had it for supper, but I think it would make a fabulous brunch dish & comes across as fancy and difficult. So, perfect for impressing the in-laws for brunch!

It's really quite easy. I think you could probably even saute the leek mixture ahead of time and then just allow a little longer for cooking. Luisa mentions cooking the leeks longer than recommended since she likes them softer, and since I do, too, that's how I did it. Mr. Kluges and I threw some torn-up spinach leaves in the ramekins on top of our leeks & it was great! The girls opted for no leeks & their spinach as a salad, but each ate TWO plain baked eggs with cream, so that was a winner for us. I have to confess that Mr. Kluges & I liked it so much that we ate two each as well! *grin* So, you may want to allow for seconds if you're not serving it with a lot of side dishes!

Egg Baked in Cream
Serves 1 with leftover leeks for many uses

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
4 leeks, sliced, light green and white parts only
Salt
2 sprigs thyme, leaves roughly chopped
2 sprigs parsley, leaves roughly chopped
1 large farm-fresh egg
About 2 tablespoons half-and-half
Coarsely ground black pepper
Grilled or toasted bread slices

1. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. In a small sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the leeks, a splash of water and a pinch of salt and cook until the leeks are tender, about 2 minutes. Add the herbs and transfer to a 6-inch cazuela, cocotte or other ceramic dish, covering the bottom with the butter, leeks and herbs.

2. Crack the egg into the middle of the dish. Add enough half-and-half to barely cover the white. Sprinkle with salt and coarsely ground pepper. Cook until the white is set, 8 to 12 minutes. Serve with grilled or toasted bread.

Cauliflower & Potato Gratin

Yum. I made this Cauliflower & Potato Gratin last week and it was so good, and warm, and yummy. It would make a great side dish or a vegetarian main dish with a salad. Might be a good option in a case like AKJ's Thanksgiving dilemma last year where she needed to bring a side, but somebody else was bringing potatoes, and veg, and sweet potatoes, etc.

I'm just copy-pasting the recipe over here from The Wednesday Chef, but do go over there to read her fabulous description of it because it'll totally make you hungry.

Note: I used fontina instead of Gruyere, and it filled a 9x13 glass baking dish perfectly.

Cauliflower and Potato Gratin
Serves 6 to 8 as a side dish

1 (1 1/4-pound) head of cauliflower
1/2 pound small boiling potatoes
Salt
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/4 cup butter
1 leek, white part only, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons crème fraiche or sour cream
3/4 cup grated Gruyère cheese, divided (about 1 1/2 ounces)
Freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the dried base and green leaves from the cauliflower and discard them. Separate the head into florets about the size of walnuts and chop the stem into similar size pieces. Cut the potatoes into similar-size pieces as well.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high head and salt liberally. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar and the cauliflower and potatoes (the vinegar will help keep the cauliflower white). Cook until the cauliflower pieces are tender enough to be easily cut with a spoon, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

3. While the cauliflower is cooking, make a cheese sauce. In a medium, heavy-bottom saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat and stir in the leeks. Cook until they are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the flour and whisk to make a smooth paste. Add the milk a little at a time, cooking until it thickens. When all the milk has been added, reduce the heat and cook over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes.

4. Stir in the crème fraîche, then one-half cup of the Gruyère, 1 teaspoon salt and a generous grating of nutmeg (a little less than one-quarter teaspoon). Whisk until smooth, then taste and add more salt or nutmeg if necessary.

5. Butter a 6-cup gratin dish and spread a thin layer of the sauce evenly over the bottom. Arrange the cooked cauliflower and potatoes in an even layer over the sauce. Pour the remaining sauce over the top and spread evenly with the back of a spoon. It should come about three-quarters of the way up the vegetables.

6. Scatter bread crumbs evenly over top and then scatter the remaining one-quarter cup Gruyère over that. Bake until the gratin is bubbling and the top is browned, 30 to 40 minutes. Serve immediately.

Simple Roasted Turnips Extraordinaire

Ok, not an actual recipe, but SO GOOD I wanted to post. I'm totally buying turnips at the store to do this. Not that the under-10 set liked these, but too bad! More for me! (A tiny bit cabbage-y, so if you despise cabbage, you might not like.)

This is what I did:

• Take a small batch of CSA turnips; cut off both ends and peel. Cut into wedges.
• Mix in a bowl with some olive oil. Sprinkle on some thyme.
• Put in a pan; roast at 350F for like, maybe 45 minutes, shaking/stirring occasionally until both sides are kind of brown/caramalized and delicious.
• DEVOUR!
  

Soft Pretzels

Thanks for the inspiration, Ms. Huis! Saturday's wine tasting was Riesling, so I made a batch of soft pretzels for the occasion. I have changed my poll response accordingly. This recipe is lifted straight from Alton Brown on The Food Network site, which probably breaks all kinds of fair use laws, but I suspect y'all won't turn me in.

My notes:
I've always heard that pretzels are difficult to make. If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, these are a breeze.

I couldn't find pretzel salt, so I used coarse sea salt instead. It was maybe a little intense for my tastes, but still a serviceable substitute. I also toyed with the idea of using margarita salt, since I think of that as being softer and slightly less salty. But maybe that's just the influence of the tequila. Also, I measured my flour by weight and it came to barely 4 cups. Maybe 4-1/2 sifted? Perhaps related to that, everywhere he says to oil a surface? Oil it. This is sticky dough.

The best thing about these is how intensely buttery they taste, even though there's only 2 ounces of butter in the whole recipe.

The recipe:
Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 1 package active dry yeast
* 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
* 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
* Vegetable oil, for pan
* 10 cups water
* 2/3 cup baking soda
* 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
* Pretzel salt

Directions

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Dutch Apple Pie

Another family recipe & this one's a favorite of mine. I'll do the crust as well, but feel free to substitute your own favorite crust recipe. The one I learned from my mom isn't the flakiest or the most buttery. It is, however, about the fastest & easiest I've heard of. Enough so that I'm not ever tempted to get fancier. Also, it works well for savory dishes like quiche.

Dutch Apple Pie
(And yes, I'm half Dutch, so it totally counts!)

6 medium apples, peeled & sliced (I dunno - more or less as you'd like to fill your pie pan. You should end up somewhat level to the top.)
Combine with 1/2 c. sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, maybe a sprinkle of cloves & a sprinkle of nutmeg. Mix well. Arrange slices (or just dump & level) in unbaked pie crust*.

Combine 3/4 c. flour & 3/4 c. sugar. Cut in 1/4 c. butter. Include some spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, if you'd like. (I like!) Sprinkle over the apple in the pie crust.

Bake at 375F for 50 minutes or until golden and tender.



*My Mom's Easy-Peasy, No-Fuss Crust
For a single bottom crust: Mix together 1 1/3 c. flour & 1 tsp. salt. Then add 1/3 c. oil & 3 Tbl. cold water & mix with fork until it sticks together. Press into a ball. Let it rest for a couple of minutes. Roll between wax paper.

For a deep dish pan or to have a top crust, too: Mix together 2 c. flour & 1 1/2 tsp. salt. Then add 1/2 c. oil & 1/4 c. cold water & mix with fork until it sticks together. Press into a ball. Let it rest for a couple of minutes. (Divide into two if top/bottom crust.) Roll between wax paper.

Apple Cinnamon Turnovers

We make this with the kids and they enjoy helping. Everyone get their own little "pie".

Ready in 30 minutes or less

1 medium tart apple, peeled and chopped
½ cup applesauce
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
Dash ground nutmeg

1 tube (7 – ½ ounces) refrigerated biscuits or large crescent rolls
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
In a bowl, combine the apple, applesauce, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg. Separate biscuits; roll out each into a 6-in circle. Place on greased baking sheets. Place a heaping tablespoonful of apple mixture in the center of each. Fold in half and pinch edges to seal. Brush with butter. Combine sugar and remaining cinnamon; sprinkle over tops. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Serve warm.

The Dude's Pizza Crust Recipe

Dude put this in the comments of the last Wednesday fun, but I figured for easier finding later, I'd paste it into a post.

Gino's East style Pizza Crust Recipe

1 cup of warm water
1 package yeast
1/2 cup cornmeal or corn flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 T corn oil
2 ½ to 3 cups of cheap generic flour
Yellow food coloring – the real secret to why its yellow.

Take the water and put it in your mixer. add yeast and a touch of sugar. Let the yeast foam up to be sure that it is active. Then add the rest of the ingredients including 2 1/2 cups flour. I usually end up adding between 1/4 and 1/2 teaspoons of yellow food coloring. Using a dough hook, kneed the dough until it is well combined. If the dough is sticky add a little more flour. The dough should be moist but not sticky. Let the mixer kneed the dough for 10 minutes. Put it in the oven to rise. If you desire a late in the day pizza taste (beer like), then let it rise all day.

Assembling the pizza -
Preheat oven to 350. After the dough has risen take your deep dish pizza pan (or a round cake pan with straight sides) and coat the inside of it with a very healthy coating of melted butter. Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick and up it in the pan. Then pinch the dough up along the sides of the pan. Now put your cheese, and I mean a lot, into the crust. Then add your spinach and anchovies, and finally your sauce. Bake in the oven until the crust is starting to brown and cheese is starting to bubble up through the sauce.

Thin crust pizza

3/4 cup warm water (plus and additional 1/3 to 1/2 cup water)
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1-1/2 teaspoons or 1 packet active dry or quick rising yeast
1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound quality high gluten flour (such as King Arthur's bread flour)

Corn meal so dough doesn't stick and additional flour for rolling out dough

Combine first 5 ingredients in either the large bowl of stand mixer (warm water -- but not the additional water, oil, yeast, sugar, and salt) and let stand 5 minutes. Place bowl on a scale and tare it out. Add flour until you have 1 pound. Attach dough hook to stand mixer and mix ingredients until just combined, adding the additional water as needed. You do not want to kneed this dough any more than required to get it combined.

Divide dough into 3 or 4 equal parts (I use the scale again) and put in 3 or 4 bowls, covering dough tightly with plastic wrap. Splitting into 3 parts will give you 3-14 inch pizzas. Check you pizza stone/peel to make sure they are large enough). Place dough in refrigerator for 24 hours. This is a very important step -- 1 whole day in the refrigerator! Dough can be kept refrigerated for at least a couple of days, or may be tightly wrapped and frozen.

Take dough out of the refrigerator about an hour before you're ready to use it (if frozen, you'll need more time, I put it in the refrigerator the night before or the morning of the day I want to use it) (I recently discovered that you can microwave it on defrost mode and that works fine too). You want the dough to come to room temperature. You can start rolling it out before it is room temperature, just know that it will take a bit longer to get it nice and thin.

Place pizza stone in oven and turn it on to preheat to 450 degrees.

Using sufficient flour to keep dough from sticking, roll out the dough and/or use your hands to flatten and then pick up and stretch it out on the backs of your fingers. I use a combination of both. This dough is very strong and can get very thin. If the dough was split into 3 equal parts, you should be able to get a 14 inch round pizza.

Shake some corn meal onto either a pizza peel (wooden cutting board with a handle) or a cookie sheet that doesn't have edges. Place the dough onto the peel/cookie sheet. Dock the dough (use a fork to poke lots of holes in the dough -- this prevents big bubbles from forming in the dough while it cooks).

Shake some corn meal onto the pizza stone. I do this now, instead of sooner, because the corn meal will burn in the very hot oven. As it is, the corn meal will probably start smoking a bit when you sprinkle it on. Slide the dough onto the stone. Pre-cook for 4 minutes.

Remove dough back onto peel/cookie sheet. Add sauce and toppings. Place back on pizza stone and cook an additional 6-10 minutes, until cheese is melted and pizza looks yummy.

Cool for 5 minutes on wire rack or wooden cutting board. Then enjoy!!

Cheesecake

The anti-salad? Puck sent this recipe to his brother-in-law. Since he went to all the trouble of transferring it to electronic format, I thought I should post it up here as well. This is a lighter, fluffier cheesecake than is currently en vogue, but it's also pretty much my favorite ever. (Despite the fact that it never seems as good as when mom makes it.) It's originally out of the 1960-something Betty Crocker cookbook.

Mama B's Cheesecake

5 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 lb cream cheese (room temp) in pieces
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp. Flour
1 tsp. vanilla

crust mix
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Butter 9" springform pan. Dust bottom and sides with crust mix then dump the rest.
Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon colored, gradually adding sugar.
Add cream cheese and beat until smooth.
Add sour cream, flour, and vanilla and beat until smooth.
Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.
Gently fold whites into cheese mixture.
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake at 275 for 70 minutes, then turn off oven and leave in 1 hour without opening door (make sure it's done before you turn off oven).
Remove from oven and cool.
Remove cheese cake from pan just before serving.